I am reposting the statement Linda Foels made earlier on the subject of the previous Central School sale referendum. Hope she doesnt mind Linda Foels 12 hours ago near Tonawanda • I use Facebook for family purposes and I have spent my life trying to avoid the political arguments and do the best job I could for the community within limited resources. So I will not tell you that you should vote one way or another on Tuesday and I will not continually respond to comments that have been made. I will only give you my thoughts and some facts. Fact – Highland School would have worked. No question. Are there questions regarding the feasibility of turning Central School into a community center? Absolutely. It’s not that the questions weren’t answered; they couldn’t be answered without more time. If the sale of Central School goes through on Tuesday, we’ll never know. In my heart, I know I could have made it work. I’ve watched the City for years make mistakes with Highland, with Kibler, with Delaware School, with Urban Renewal and the list is extensive. All in the name of “can we afford it?” I think the real question is, can we afford not to? We are losing recreation programs quickly. We have no community center, no aquatic center, no fitness center, no golf course, the best parks in this end of the State (under-utilized) and a Senior Center located on prime retail land that only appeals to a small segment of the community. North Tonawanda has a thriving youth program and it is tax based. They believe in the youth. We’re afraid of spending a dollar. What’s next? Will we lose the pool? There are ways to recoup revenue without breaking your wallets. There are always questions, but there are also solutions. The School Board, the Mayor and the Council are supposed to be leaders in this City. God forbid the groups and the community get together, stop blaming each other, stop the petty arguments, stop the people bashing and do something good, because so far all the decisions based on “we can’t afford it” are not getting us out of financial difficulty - it’s leading us toward bankruptcy and mergers of schools and our City with other communities that have made better decisions. I could take on most of the arguments I’ve seen on Facebook but I would have to write a book. Some of the information is accurate, some of it isn’t. I don’t care who’s to blame; I only care that more mistakes aren’t made. We need vision, not the tunnel vision that’s destroying our City. Vote your conscious on Tuesday, but if the sale of Central goes through, then step up to the plate and fight for the health of your community. While you still have one.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:58:03 +0000
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